A House of Prayer for All People on Camino Tassajara
Peace Lutheran Church sits at 3201 Camino Tassajara in Danville, California, in the rolling country east of the East Bay hills. The congregation calls itself "a house of prayer for all people" and has been an open and affirming community since 1991, when it formally welcomed LGBTQ members. It belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America through the Sierra Pacific Synod, and it carries the designation Reconciled in Christ.
Pastor Steve Harms retired in November 2025 after many years of leading the congregation. Today Rev. Diane Bowers serves as Bridge Pastor, a theologian and Luther scholar who earned her Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and was ordained in 2002. Rev. Lucy Kolin shares in pastoral care, and Kari Doolittle keeps the office running as Office Manager. Ben Jones directs the Peace Counseling Center. Elizabeth Hunter Ashley, a lyric coloratura soprano and Bay Area recitalist, directs the choir. Gary Sponholtz is Music Director. Together they hold a community that calls its ministry "Unfolding Mosaic of Grace."
Worship on Sunday Morning
Worship at Peace is liturgical, gathered every Sunday at 10 a.m. The congregation believes that "the prayer and praise of worship are more important than oxygen" and describes the liturgy as leading worshipers into "the Cosmic Rhythm," the same movement found in atoms, blood, sap, tides, and stars. Music, tempo, words, and art vary from week to week, but the service moves through an ancient order that connects hearts with what the church calls the Mystery of Life.
Communion is celebrated every Sunday, and the altar is described as an Open Table. The congregation teaches that in Christ there are no insiders or outsiders, and that the meal nourishes communion with all life. Animals are welcome in worship. People of all ages, including children, are full participants. Activity bags are offered for little ones; an usher can provide one as worshipers enter the Sanctuary.
During the service, after the gospel lesson is read, all the children present are invited to come forward for a brief conversation with the pastor. An experienced volunteer then leads the children out for about twenty minutes of story time, discussion, and coloring. The children return during the Passing of the Peace, in time for communion.
Guests are invited to stay after worship for refreshments in the Gathering Hall. Homilies are available to stream home through the Sermons and Past Spaces archive, and audio files of recent sermons are posted regularly. The 2026 preaching rotation has included Pastor Diane, Pastor Lucy, and guest preachers such as Rev. Barbara Foltin, Deacon Meagan Kim, Rev. Maggie Henderson of Old First Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, and Pastor Avhashoni Matamela of ELCSA Lwamondo Parish in Venda, South Africa.
The Labyrinth in the Garden
Behind the Sanctuary, between the children's playground and Old Blackhawk Road, the Peace Labyrinth has been a destination for modern pilgrims since the year 2000. It was the first publicly accessible and permanent labyrinth installed in Contra Costa County. The original design and installation were the work of Robert Ferre. In 2021 the Labyrinth Uplift Project was completed by Lars Howlett of Discover Labyrinths. The pattern is a Medieval design and a replica of the famous labyrinth in the floor of Our Lady of Chartres Cathedral in France, built in the thirteenth century.
The labyrinth is open to anyone at any time. It is designed to be accessible for people using wheelchairs or walkers. Visitors can park in the lot off Maison Drive. The labyrinth is lit from dusk until midnight for those who wish to walk in the evening. Group walks are held throughout the year, typically one each season.
The path has a single entrance and a single winding path leading to the center and back out. There are no choices to make, no tricks, and no dead ends. As walkers move inward they can release thoughts, grief, fatigue, and preoccupations. At the center, they can sit, stand, or kneel and pray, meditate, or simply be still. On the return path they listen for what comes and carry it back into the world.
The Wind Phone and the Peace Forest
South of Maison Drive and north of the labyrinth, in the Peace Forest area of the Garden, sits the Peace Wind Phone. The practice of using a wind phone to carry conversations with loved ones who have died originated in Japan after the 2011 tsunami, where Itaru Sasaki built the first one in his garden in Ōtsuchi. The Peace Wind Phone was brought to the property by Lori Garcia and her family in memory of her nephew Bobby Garcia.
The Wind Phone is a small structure designed so that visitors can speak aloud into it and imagine their words carried on the wind to those they have lost. Once visitors arrive they are encouraged to let their hearts guide the conversation. The path to the Wind Phone leaves the concrete walkway, so a flashlight and sturdy shoes are helpful in the evening.
The Peace Interfaith Mosaic
On the exterior wall of the Sanctuary, the Peace Mosaic looks out across the labyrinth. It was created as a 50th Anniversary Commemorative Art Piece for the congregation's ministry in the San Ramon Valley. Artist Richard Caemmerer designed it, and Mosaic Artist Jennifer Mitchell carried out the work. More than 43,000 pieces of Smalti, or Byzantine tile, were laid over six months of construction. The Perdomo family of Mexico, who provided tiles for works by Diego Rivera, made the glass. Members from fifteen different interfaith communities participated. The Mosaic was dedicated on April 6, 2008.
The Mosaic is laid out as a spiral, a form of labyrinth that suggests motion from the ancients to the present, from birth to forever. At the center sits a Mandala that can be exchanged for the Mandala of any interfaith community during its Feast Day or season. Around the spiral one finds a Sanskrit OM at the top, a Christian clover leaf and waters of baptism, a crescent moon and mosque dome from Islam, a Buddhist lotus and Yin Yang motif, the Tablets of the Law and Tree of Life from Judaism, and a ceremonial feather recalling the symbols of first peoples. Each mandala at the center is interchangeable.
As you walk the labyrinth with your feet you can also walk the Mosaic with your eyes. The dove and olive branch at the center are the primary symbols, drawn from the Jewish tradition. The artist wrote of the medium that "thousands and thousands of pieces of colored glass taking hundreds of hours of labor by friends and strangers symbolize in its execution the process of making peace out of pieces."
Worship and Music: Jazz Church West
At 5 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month from October through June, the Sanctuary becomes the home of Jazz Church West. The series is a direct descendant of the famous Jazz Vespers that began in New York City in 1962 when drummer Max Roach approached Rev. John Gensel and said, "We're both doing a spiritual gig, but I can't make it on Sunday mornings." That conversation gave birth to what became an Interfaith Celebration called Jazz at Peace on the West Coast.
Audiences are asked to come as they are. The improvisational artists are described as cool, soulful, hilarious, and guaranteed to lift spirits. A wine bar reception follows the music, and audience donations keep the series alive. The 21st season featured Peter Harvey, Fred Randolph, Natalie Cressman and Ian Faquini, Harvey Wainapel, Steve Carter, Sylvia Cuenca, Adam Shulman, Grupo Falso Baiano, and Gaea Schell.
Friday Films bring another rhythm to the calendar, with a potluck dinner followed by a film and conversation. The screenings are held in the Gathering Hall and rotate based on what the organizers want to share. Recent films have included "Good Fortune," and the events are open to anyone willing to bring a dish to share.
The Building, the Sanctuary, and the Gathering Hall
The Sanctuary at Peace has exceptional acoustics and natural lighting, and is regularly used for recitals, concerts, plays, school functions, audition recordings, weddings, and memorials. Two grand pianos and an Allen Renaissance Organ with three manuals, eighty stops, and a full-pedal board are available, along with music stands, a moveable wood-block sectional podium, tables and chairs, and a sound system.
The Gathering Hall seats eighty people comfortably and is the venue for receptions, potlucks, the Peace Women's Group, Tai Chi, and other gatherings. A full-sized kitchen is available for an additional fee. Classrooms can be used as practice or green rooms. The facility is available for rental, and a Facility Use Agreement is available on request.
Contemplative Practices and Healing
Peace is a center for contemplative practice. The church describes contemplation as opening the door to "living within the tension of unknowing and the mysteries that permeate life," guiding discernment, navigating life's seasons, stripping away delusions, supporting commitments to justice, and reconnecting people with their Source.
Healing Prayer is offered as a ministry. Tai Chi Chuan, taught by Sifu Matt Rice in a twelve-week series, meets on Thursday evenings in the Gathering Hall and is described as a moving meditation drawn from the Tang Dynasty. Thursday Group Meditation gathers at 5 p.m. in the Sanctuary for sitting, an optional walking meditation, and more sitting. Singing Bowl Meditation with Ben Jones is held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at 4:30 p.m., both in person in the Sanctuary and on Zoom. Abba Imma Qigong, a movement practice that integrates the Lord's Prayer, is offered as well.
Spiritual Direction is available through the church as well, with trained directors who walk alongside individuals to help them notice the movement of the Spirit, see where they are called in life, encounter God in unexpected places, and cultivate gratitude, joy, and a lightness of heart.
Yoga, Gardening, the Women's Group, and More
On Tuesday afternoons the rhythms of Peace keep going. At 10:30 a.m., Ken works in the Peace garden, and anyone willing to show up with gloves is welcome to join him. At 1 p.m., the Peace Women's Group gathers in the Gathering Hall for coffee and conversation. At 2 p.m., Nora, a certified Vinyasa Yoga instructor, leads a yoga session in the Sanctuary, with chair yoga as an option. At 3 p.m., volunteers gather to write postcards as part of a nonpartisan campaign to encourage registered voters to exercise their right to vote.
On the second Monday of each month, a team from Peace drives or carpools to the Open Heart Food Bank at 7650 Marathon Drive, Suite H, in Livermore, where they sort produce, organize donations, load and unload vehicles, and keep the warehouse tidy from 12:30 to about 2:20 p.m.
Weddings, Baptisms, and Funerals
Peace hosts weddings for members and non-members, for interfaith couples, and for same-sex couples, and supports both traditional and creative ceremonies. Pastor Steve Harms, Pastor Emeritus, is available to help plan. The Music Director, Gary Sponholtz, works with all genres for piano and organ and collaborates with Bay Area soloists and ensembles. The Gathering Hall seats eighty people for a reception, the kitchen is fully equipped, and beer and wine are permitted.
The typical fee for a wedding at Peace is $2,000. The fee includes use of the sanctuary and grounds for rehearsal and ceremony, up to three planning and counseling sessions with the pastor, and the services of the church musician and wedding coordinator. A wedding reception starts at $500 and includes use of the Gathering Hall and kitchen and the assistance of the wedding coordinator; it does not include food, beverage, supplies, or servers. A non-refundable deposit of $425 confirms the wedding and rehearsal dates.
Baptism at Peace is described as a celebration of life and God's promise always to be present. Infant, adult, and elder baptism are all welcomed. Funeral and memorial services can be arranged with Pastor Steve, and you need not be a member to have a service at Peace. Receptions can be held in the Gathering Hall.
Justice and Global Partnerships
Justice Advocacy is woven into congregational life at Peace. Active partnerships and affiliations cover Amnesty International, Bread for the World, the Contra Costa Interfaith Housing, the Danville Rehabilitation nursing home ministry, Earth Faith Food CSA, Lutheran World Relief, the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, the Reconciled in Christ program, the Senior Center Ministry, Shelter Inc., solar energy advocacy, and Sunrise Sing Along. There is a Food Bank Barrel near the office to support local hunger relief, and a Prison Ministry. The congregation also participates in USAid's work on building resilience and in advocacy on human trafficking.
Two international partnerships anchor the global work. In Lwamondo, Venda, South Africa, Peace has a relationship with the ELCSA Lwamondo Parish. In Laurel Galán, Nicaragua, the congregation partners with Entre Culturas / Between Cultures. The partnership in Nicaragua has been active for many years; groups from Peace have traveled to the country, and visiting Nicaraguan partners have preached at the church and led discussions after Sunday worship.
The Peace Counseling Center, directed by Ben Jones, is a ministry of pastoral care that supports individuals and families. There is also an Interfaith San Ramon Valley ministry, and a Refugee Help Volunteer program that has welcomed refugees from Syria and other countries. The congregation has explored becoming part of the Sanctuary movement, and a Justice Advocacy speaker series called "Pinch of Salt" presents reflections on social issues from members and friends.
AA and NA Recovery Meetings
Four twelve-step recovery meetings are hosted at Peace each week. AA meets on Mondays at 7:30 p.m., Women's AA on Tuesdays at 11 a.m., NA on Tuesdays at 7 p.m., and AA on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. The community writes that it loves the twelve steps and welcomes everyone to these meetings at the church.
Lutheran Teaching and Open Theology
The Lutheran teachings at Peace begin with grace. The community writes that grace is something that can never be earned or deserved, only given; that God's love does not depend on worthiness or success; and that Christ's actions are always for the well-being of the other. Justice is active, not reactive, and the church sees itself as a catalyst for the Beloved Community. The faith is described as interfaith: "If what is shared is true, then it is of God," a quote attributed to St. Augustine fifteen centuries ago.
The congregation teaches that the community of faith must be constantly reforming. Worship, intellectual integrity, and new ministries are always changing. "Change is Possible," the church teaches, for persons, community, and society. Creation is the original scripture, and the church treasures poetry, dance, music, and theatre as ways to awaken awareness of the mystery of life.
Trinity is taught as a Community-in-Unity. Abba or Imma is the surging, endlessly generating parent. The Word or Son enacts God's compassion from the beginning and reveals it in the life, suffering, death, and rising of Jesus. The Holy Spirit inspires and sustains contemporary life with joy, energy, imagination, and creativity.
The church embraces science as a companion on the faith journey rather than an opponent. It speaks of evolution and the New Cosmology, and of the universe as being composed of stories rather than atoms, a line drawn from Muriel Rukeyser. Among the Lutherans of distinction it names are Johann Sebastian Bach, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dag Hammarskjöld, and, with affection, Snoopy, "100% Lutheran."
The Wind Phone in the News
The Wind Phone at Peace has received local news coverage, including a segment from KPIX CBS News. It is featured on the My Wind Phone Finder and in NHK World's documentary "The Wind Phone: From Japan to the World." Visitors are welcome at any time.
Visiting Peace Lutheran Church
The church is at 3201 Camino Tassajara, Danville, California 94506. Sunday worship begins at 10 a.m. and is followed by hospitality in the Gathering Hall. Office hours are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Members of the public are welcome to visit the Sanctuary during office hours. The Labyrinth and Gardens are open at all times.
Gifts to Peace can be made through Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, or by check. The mailing address for checks is 3201 Camino Tassajara, Danville, CA 94506. The Grace Waves newsletter is published regularly and is available online. Donations may be designated for specific causes.
Peace Lutheran Church is grounded in the Lutheran tradition, open to all, and shaped by a long commitment to contemplation, the arts, justice, and interfaith friendship. The labyrinth in the garden, the Peace Mosaic on the Sanctuary wall, the Wind Phone in the Peace Forest, and the round of Sunday worship, recovery meetings, yoga, gardening, meditation, and film nights together form a community that the people of Peace describe simply as "a house of prayer for all people."